Denise Filiatrault

Denise Filiatrault born May 16 1931 is a Canadian actress and director She attained star status on TV in the 1960s costarring with Dominique Michel in the RadioCanada television series Moi et lautre 196771 and in many editions of RadioCanadas annual New Years special Bye Bye She had further success in Chez Denise 19781982 Le 101 avenue des Pins 198485 and Denise aujourdhui 199091 In addition to her television career Filiatrault also performed in films and on stage notably in works by Michel Tremblay She was known to perform both comic and dramatic roles such as Gilles Carles The Death of a Lumberjack La Mort dun bûcheron in 1973 André Brassards film version of Tremblays Once Upon a Time in the East Il était une fois dans lEst in 1974 Denys Arcands Gina in 1975 Claude Fourniers Far from You Sweetheart Je suis loin de toi mignonne in 1976 Fantastica in 1980 and Carles The Plouffe Family Les Plouffe in 1981 playing the tormented Cécile Following Les Plouffe Filiatrault took a break from film concentrating more in writing and directing for theatre and summer comedy Filiatrault then decided to take the leap to directing cinema by adapting Tremblays novel Ctà ton tour Laura Cadieux into the 1998 film Its Your Turn Laura Cadieux presenting the world of overweight women yearning for love and affection Filiatrault opted for a simple yet effective style that showcased the talents of the films strong female leads This dramatic comedy scored such success that Filiatrault wrote and directed the 1999 sequel Laura Cadieux II Laura Cadieux la suite in which she further developed the characters and their world In 2002 she produced a new comedy fantasy Alices Odyssey LOdyssée dAlice Tremblay which received a lukewarm response from critics and moviegoers In 2003 taking advantage of the success of her motion picture characters Filiatrault produced a television miniseries for TVA Le Petit monde de Laura Cadieux 2003 before tackling a new film Bittersweet Memories Ma vie en cinémascope 2004 a dramatic biography of 1930s1950s singer Alys Robi played by Pascale Bussières As artistic director of the Théâtre du Rideau Vert she and the theatre were criticized in January 2015 by a coalition of Montreal arts groups for a yearend production in which a Caucasian actor portrayed hockey player PK Subban in blackface Filiatrault responded that she was shocked outraged and humiliated by the reaction saying that she had been in show business for 60 years and was the first person to hire a black Quebecer on television